The passenger total represents an increase in passenger numbers of 4 million and in traffic revenue of €9 million, in a year that was marked by "increased operation difficulties" due to "insufficient rolling stock," CP said in a statement.

It explained that urban rail services in Lisbon had contributed most towards growth, with a 5% rise in the number of passengers carried in the capital during the year, to over 87 million. In Porto, urban services carried around 22 million passengers, up 1.8% year on the year.

Long-haul services carried 6.4 million passengers (little changed from 2017) and revenue from these rose by 3.2% to €110 million, while the regional service transported over 370,000 passengers for a total of 10.6 million.